This podcast is offered by the San Francisco Zen Center on the web at sfzc.org. Our public programs are made possible by donations from people like you. Just taking a quick look around to see some of my friends and some... Let's see, I'm going to put... Put it back on gallery there for a second. I got spotlighted, which is OK. So nice to see you all. Well, good morning and welcome to Zoom. I want to thank Jiryu, the Tonto, for inviting me. It's always wonderful to speak to the Green Gulch community. I do wish that I was doing it in the beautiful Green Gulf Zendo, and I'm assuming that many of you feel that way too, although we sometimes reach a little farther geographically this way.

[01:08]

And I also want to thank all of you for coming. Without you, there would be no talk. Excuse me if I fumble some during the talk. A very nice surgeon last Tuesday kindly placed a titanium screw in my right thumb. to repair an injury I had. So I'm learning how to use the mouse with my left hand and do various other things on this computer that way. This morning, I'm going to begin by talking about the value and importance of appreciating our life and our practice as a basis for acting in the world. It might seem odd to bring this subject forward in the midst of all the pain and suffering in the world right now, the consequences of climate crisis sown so visibly in hurricanes and wildfires all over the West, the horrible suffering both physical and economic caused by the pandemic, the human tragedies of wars and injustice of all kind.

[02:20]

I was reflecting recently with my wife whether these times seemed darker than the late 60s when I left my math career in search for an answer to those desperate times. The assassinations of Jack Kennedy, Bobby Kennedy, Martin Luther King, the Vietnam War with 50,000 Americans killed and over 3 million Vietnamese killed in a senseless war. And there was also enormous divisiveness in the country at that time. So we didn't actually come to a conclusion. Both times seemed pretty difficult, but I think maybe the climate crisis weighs the scale a little bit in the direction of these times. I bring this forward because in the midst of my confusion in 1970, I met Suzuki Roshi and saw a way forward. And I want to state my confusion wasn't just about how to

[03:23]

make a meaningful response to the world, but what to do with my own confused state of mind. I knew deep inside of me life was a great gift, but I didn't know how to live it, and I sensed it was fleeting. And I found in Suzuki Hiroshi a person who I felt understood that life was difficult. He certainly had lived through the World War II in Japan, which was a horrible time. and had had great personal difficulties in his family life. But he had a great sense of joy and appreciation for life and tremendous sense of being present. And I thought, maybe this is the way forward for me. So I'm going to read this quote from the beginning of the lecture, Single-Minded Way in Zen Mind Beginner's Mind. He says, the purpose of my talk is not to give you some intellectual understanding. but just to express my appreciation of our Zen practice.

[04:27]

To be able to sit with you in Zazen is very unusual. He says very, very unusual. Of course, whatever we do is unusual because our life itself is so unusual. Buddha said to appreciate our life is as rare as soil on your fingernails. You know, dirt hardly ever sticks on your fingernail. Our human life is rare and wonderful. What a beautiful sentiment to begin with. I wonder if we remember that our human life is rare and beautiful. Rare and wonderful. I think if we could be more in touch with how rare and wonderful having a human life is, we'd be able to be more... impactful in the way we conduct our affairs and actually live a kinder and more generous life. You know, I sometimes think that we're so distracted by the huge amount of enormous knowledge that's around us and the way science has described our world that we think, well, all the mystery is gone.

[05:46]

But I think in some... sense there's as much mystery to life now as there was 2500 years ago when buddha first started teaching the way the fundamental mystery of what a human life is what this event we're involved in is is still just as mysterious now as it has ever been and having some connection with that mystery is crucial to bringing Our life alive. This is a girl. She then went on and said. Our human life is rare and wonderful. When I sit, I want to remain sitting forever, but I encourage myself to have another practice, for instance, to recite the sutra or to bow. And when I bow, I think this is wonderful. So she really loved bowing and he.

[06:48]

Loved it so much that even though when he trained at AAG in morning service, they only bow three times, three full bows. But he instituted nine full bows in our morning service at Zen Center. And we've been doing it ever since. And he really felt it was important for Americans to bow. And I found this in a new book that just came out from... David Chadwick called Zen is Right Now. It's kind of a follow-up of Zen is Right Here. And this is one of those little stories in that book. This is from a student. These are little sort of vignettes from students. We were having dokes on on a hot day in August in Suzuki Roshi's office in the city. We were both sitting on the floor face to face. What is this bowing? I asked. Suddenly he got up. came over to my side and started bowing up and down, up and down, up and down.

[07:52]

This is how we do it, he said. I thought to myself, what is this man doing? Why is he going on bowing for so long? And then he said, I have been quite aware. I have been aware of every bow I have done since then, always with the same question. What is this bow? What is this bow? What is this bow? Great question about what is this bow? I remember when I first came to Tassar as a guest student, Suzuki Roshi was teaching there, and I was quite fascinated by him. But when I was following all the forms as best I could, I'd been taught by the guest student manager about how to do a full bow. And being a good Boy Scout, I was trying to do as best I could. I had no idea why we were doing these nine bows to the floor in morning service. But all of a sudden, one morning, as I was going down, just as I started to bow to the floor, my whole body was overcome with this feeling of gratitude.

[09:00]

I mean, I'd never felt grateful like that before. It was like a complete body experience. So beautiful, so pure, such a... clear drink of water, kind of a moment of grace, this sense of being grateful just to be alive, just to have a human life. And, of course, we have these methods, these yogic practices as part of our practice in Zen that remind us to wake up to this moment, to remember that we're alive in a way outside of just our ordinary functions in the world. Stopping at an altar before you go to the baths at Tassar or into the bathroom city center and doing a bow, just for a moment to stop and pay attention to who you are in that moment. So continuing this conversation on, you know, what distracts us from being present to our human life and being grateful for it, I...

[10:13]

I'm reminded of this saying that Suzuki Hiroshi said to the group, I think it was. He said, sometimes I think you think your problems are more important than the fact that you are alive. I'll repeat it again because it's kind of a mouthful. He said to us, sometimes I think you think your problems are more important than the fact that you are alive. I have turned that phrase over and over again for the past 50 years. Times when I'm totally caught up in a problem. You know, why is this happening to me? This is unfair. It would just sort of come up. Something like, do you think this problem is more important than the fact that you're alive? So in Zen, we have the use of turning words or turning phrases. Turning phrase for me.

[11:14]

Turning phrases are, you know, they turn the trap of our comparative thinking where our world is fixed by a conceptual mind. You know, our world is fixed by, oh, this shouldn't be happening to me. This is unfair. I've created a world in which I shouldn't have this problem. A turning phrase sort of breaks you out of that. A turning phrase turns the heart and mind around. It turns it from being upside down to right side up. So we have this tradition in Zen of using turning phrases. In fact, essentially, almost all the koans in Zen are turning phrases. You know, they sort of strike you. Not knowing is most intimate. Well, that kind of makes sense. I understand that if I'm full of... thoughts about the way things are supposed to be or what things are. It may separate me from being in connection to people.

[12:17]

I don't have a beginner's mind. But there's something else about that phrase, not knowing most intimate, that doesn't, you can't quite explain it, but it kind of makes you want to move in some ways to a more intimate way. So today, I'm going to bring forward a turning phrase from Yunnan, which will be an opportunity for us to explore turning phrases some more. So I've been thinking about this problem I have in life. Maybe if I study Zen enough, I'll get rid of my problems. I seem to have sometimes... adversarial relationship to certain problems. They shouldn't be here. They should go away. But early on in my time at Zen Center, I remember there was a lecture.

[13:18]

Ed Brown tells the following stories, that during the third day of a seven-day sashim, Suzuki Roshi said, the problems you are experiencing now, at that point, Ed imagined Roshi would say something like, will soon be over. you know, because of the quality of your practice and everything. But instead, Suzuki Roshi said, we'll be with you for the rest of your life, which was not the answer Ed wanted to hear. But in some sense, it's true. We always have problems. That's been my experience. We either have physical problems or leftover mental problems from the dynamics of our childhood or the society we were raised in or the responsibilities we've taken on in our work or our friends. We share our friends' problems. And there's so much injustice in the world. And what do we do about that? So problems are a part of life. And so the question is not how to get rid of problems, because if we wait to solve all our problems to appreciate our life, we'll miss our life.

[14:30]

The problem is how do we appreciate our life in the midst of working on our problems in the midst of living a human life full of problems. And of course, over time, I've come to feel that problems really are workable. And certainly in the midst of even the most painful ones, one can find heart at the center of it. So I bring this koan forward. to see what Yunman has to say about this question of our appreciating the day. This is case six of the Blue Cliff Record. Yunman's every day is a good day. Yunman said, I don't ask you about before the 15th day. Try to say something about after the 15th day.

[15:30]

Yunman himself answered for everyone, every day is a good day. That was part of Yunman's style, was to pose a question that maybe sometimes he'd answered himself when no one else came forward. So his answer was, every day is a good day. So this is kind of one of those turning phrases. What does it mean, every day is a good day? Clearly, some days are good, some days are bad. Some days are terrible, some days are wonderful. Some moments are great, some moments are not so great, but he's saying something here about every day is a good day. So before getting into this con, I'll tell you a little bit about Yunman. He lived from 864 to 949. This was near the end of the Tang Dynasty and the golden age of Zam. This was a very turbulent time in China as the Tang Dynasty was falling apart. There were persecutions of Buddhism and many monasteries were being destroyed.

[16:38]

So Yanmen, after his early training course, became a great Zen teacher, founded one of the five schools of Zen. He appears 18 times in the Blue Cliff Record, 12 times in the Book of Serenity, and five times in the Gateless Barrier. Even Zhao Zhou, one of my other favorite Zen teachers, doesn't have as many koan stories. Yunman studied under several great teachers before he began his teaching at age 55, and he taught for 30 years after he established his monastery. And I'm going to share this as one of his stories, his learning stories under one of his great teachers, Mujo. Probably this was the first teacher he actually encountered.

[17:39]

And Mujo had been living in a big monastery, but had retired to some house where his mother was ill, and he didn't accept many visitors. So this is how the interchange goes between the two of them. Master Mu Jo asked, who is it? And Yun Man said, it is me, Yun Man. Mu Jo shut the door on him. Yun Man kept coming even after being turned away several times. Mu Jo blocked the entrance and said, why do you keep coming? Yun Man replied, I am not clear about myself. I would like the master to give me some instruction. Mujo grabbed Yunman and yelled, speak, speak. Yunman hesitated and Mujo said, too late, and slammed the door on his leg.

[18:41]

In this way, Yunman attained understanding. This is the way the story goes. So, of course, what's nice about this story is it has some wonderful aspects to it. I don't like so much this, you know, kind of... macho sense to hear about the teacher has to slam the door on the students in order to get them to come to awakening. I never feel that's the way Suzuki Roshi was. I always felt he was quite kind. Even if I couldn't speak when I was in front of him and had a question, he seemed to find some appropriate way to relate to me. So I liked two things about this story. Yunman said, I'm not clear about myself. I would like the master to give some assertion. I need help. I'm confused. That certainly reminds me of myself when I first arrived at Tassara. That's what I asked. I'm confused. I need some help.

[19:44]

And Mujo's response, well, say something. Speak, speak. And Yunman was not ready to say anything yet. That's that other side of the request. You know, come forward. Express yourself. Zikiroshi has such a wonderful lecture. Express yourself fully. Reveal yourself. Become vulnerable. Then I can help you. Very beautiful interchange. Anyway, Yunman did develop a kind of style out of that that was very direct and very... And always... addressed people in short answers that sort of turned them. That's what I meant by these turning phrases. Every day is a good day. So on to the case. Yunman said, I don't ask you about before the 15th day.

[20:46]

Try to say something about after the 15th day. Every day is a good day was his answer. Now, back then in the monasteries, the calendars sort of ran on a cycle of the moon. So the 15th day of the month is the day of the full moon. That's how they worked it. And that would be the day the assembly gathered and did a ceremony of repentance and taking the precepts. We still do that at Zen Center. It doesn't always occur on the 15th of the month because our calendar is different now, but... On the full moon days, we gather, especially if it's in the evening at City Center, we'll gather a half hour before the ceremony and we'll discuss in small groups how we did with the precepts that past month. Were we truthful? Were we generous? Various different things. And then we would take a ceremony where we would repent and take the precepts again, committing to live a better life.

[21:52]

So I think we can think of this comment he's saying is don't ask about the day of purification and rededication. And in Zen, basically all ceremonies of purification and rededication are awakening ceremonies. So this question could be posed. I don't ask you about before enlightenment. Try to say something about after enlightenment. So Yunman's not so interested in before. Of course, we are. Who am I is often answered by explanations and descriptions of where we have been, what we have done. You know, I am this way because ever since a dog knocked me over when I was a child, I've been afraid of dogs. My father was not demonstrative, so neither am I. You know the drill. We explain ourselves by where we have been. We miss this moment as our reason for being.

[22:55]

We are mired in where we have been. We are lost to here and what is now. So Yunman is not interested in before the stories that we indulge in as we define ourselves. So that's the question, how to bring ourselves into the present moment, the everyday practice of Zen. the everyday moment of practice of Zen. This koan opens us to the mysterious, vast, into the everyday, the good day that is here in each moment, eternity of each moment. This is a koan because it asks us to explore the non-duality and the duality of good and bad days. If he's saying every day is a good day, then even if it is a bad day, also a good day? In what sense is even the worst day still a good day?

[23:59]

I've been thinking during this pandemic, we certainly get a chance to experience good days and bad days, you know, in some strange way. I've had to shelter at home. I had my home in Mill Valley, which, of course, is beautiful with a forest behind my house. And I get to really see the changing seasons much more clearly. And I get to cook dinner with my wife every night, which has been wonderful. And on the other hand, I miss being at a city center and following the schedule every day. And also, things have been really bad. COVID-19 is a terrible disease. just killing millions around the world in horrible ways and causing great suffering and economic disruption. So things are not good. On the other hand, thanks to the miracle of a very effective vaccines developed by our marvelous biotech technology here, in less than a year, we came up with vaccines that can save lives.

[25:11]

So that's a good thing. So this Cohen is asking us to embrace it all, the suffering and tragedy of human life and the joy and ecstasy. And only by embracing it all can we know how to love and act with compassion. Sometimes the simplest things come out of people. I was at my eye doctor recently and one of the assistants that was helping. me, said, what are you doing? Because I was reading about this koan, and she said, and I read it, I said, this is a koan about every day is a good day. She said, of course. Meaning, in the sense of every day you're alive is a good day. So in that sense, it's a good day. But he's asking for something a little bit more than that. He's asking, how do we practice the idea of every

[26:13]

we have is a moment of a good day. We have to admit that we're pretty terrified about facing lots of aspects of our life. We tend to avoid it. We push it away. We're actually scared to live our actual lives. But I'm afraid, or not afraid, I think that I've found that facing the pain is maybe the best way through to finding the good day in the painful days. So, I want to share the commentary that Suzuki Roshi gave to this koan, because it is so beautiful. As you may know, Jiryu was working with Mel Weitzman, before his death on editing a collection of Suzuki Roshi lectures, which Zen Center plans to publish.

[27:20]

I'm so appreciative of Mel, who even to his death at age 91, continued to bring Suzuki Roshi's way to us, both in his everyday practice, and his teachings, and deciding, at age 90, to be editing a collection of Suzuki Gershi's talks. I thank Jiryu and Mel for this gift they're bringing forward to us. I'm fortunate to be reviewing a draft of this book, and I've been lecturing at a song I lead in Mill Valley called Vimal Asanga on various chapters in it. And recently I've been lecturing on the commentary Suzuki Roshi did on the Blue Cliff Records. There's 22 of them, and they've all been collected in this book. And it's so wonderful to be able to reflect on Suzuki Roshi's sense for the koans. So I'm going to share his commentary, and I'll make commentary on his commentary.

[28:33]

So to repeat the case again, I don't ask about before the 15th day, try to say something about after the 15th day. And then he answered himself, every day is a good day. So Tsukiroshi made some introductory comments before he made his comment on the koan. And this is his introductory comment. Each existence, animate and inanimate, is changing during every moment, day and night. The change is like flowing water, which does not ever come back and which reveals its true nature in its eternal travel. What a beautiful sentence. He's expressing first the fundamental concept in Buddhism of impermanence. Everything is changing. And he uses the metaphor of flowing water.

[29:34]

It's like the change is like flowing water, which... does not ever come back. Who has not stared at a stream and been captured by the continuous movement and felt a part of it, felt a part of that continuous flow, felt a part of the fact of impermanence in our life. He then goes on and says... Water flowing and clouds drifting are similar to a well-trained old Zen master. The true nature of water and clouds are like the determined, single-minded traveling monks who do not take off their traveling sandals even under the roof of sages. Worldly pleasures, philosophical pursuits, or whimsical ideas Do not interest the traveling monk, sincere in his true nature, for he does not want to be fat and idle.

[30:40]

Such a monk does not care for hospitality, which would stop his travels. He recognizes as true friends only those who travel with him on the way. So we know the archetype of the Zen practice practitioner is a monk. In some sense, all of you are monks. And the Japanese for an itinerant monk is unsui, and that translates to drifting like clouds, flowing like waters. So here he's connecting our practice to the practice of impermanence, and therefore to non-intachment. Worldly pleasures, philosophical pursuits, and whimsical ideas do not We do not get attached to them. And why is that? We've learned that those things do not completely satisfy us.

[31:47]

I mean, wonderful to have, you know, marvelous worldly, a great meal or have a great philosophical idea. I'm not saying that, but I'm saying in some fundamental sense, we understand these things never completely satisfy us. a wandering monk. We're after something other than that. What is it that will truly satisfy us? What is it that will truly satisfy us on the way? I leave that sort of as a question for the time being. And then, of course, I love the last sentence of what he said. He recognizes as true friends only those who travel with him. on the way, only those who travel with him on the way of impermanence, understanding the way of impermanence and understanding the way of non-attachment. And that is kind of true.

[32:53]

You know, there's some special feeling we have for the sangha. I mean, I think as much as we want to have the whole world as a sangha and we should have the whole world as our sangha, There is also the truth that those who we practice with, we have a special kind of relationship with. He then goes on to say, the idea of this kind of travel may make you feel lonely and helpless. In Japan, Zen is understood by the words wabi or sabi. These two words are nouns, but nowadays they're used mostly as adjectives. Wabishi or Sabishi. One meaning of Wabishi and Sabishi is lonesome and monotonous. I don't know. You know, he set out this idea, which I got kind of captured by, you know, the determined traveling monk. And there's so many stories of the monks traveling, the Zen teachers traveling through the hills in China and turning the corner and seeing a bush and being awakened and everything.

[34:00]

But it is kind of... Lonely. Practicing. And we feel kind of helpless. It's because it's true about our human life. We are lonely and helpless much. And so there's an honesty about that. An honesty about lonely and helpless. And when he says. And our practice is monotonous. That's also really true. There's something about, you know, you go to, you know, Tassar for three months and you get, you get up at the same time every day. You sit in the same place in the Zendo. You, the bells are all the same. Everything is just over and over and over again. But it is that repetition. Repetition is actually the heart of religious practice. It's that repetition that drives you deeper into your life. That monotony.

[35:01]

makes you see life from a deeper place. Same thing over and over again. Moonrise. So this is just one of those stories in this area. I had a good Zen friend that we would go for a walk every Wednesday for some reason down the trail to Tam Beach, down the Tam Trail to Tennessee Valley Beach. We took the same trail every year for five years. It was always the same. But I don't know. We'd sit on the beach and, you know, it was... But it was always different. Enough different. And I felt somehow when we were sitting one day in the summer, it was foggy and miserable and cold. But I felt the foggy, cold misery, you know, really to my core. And I thought, you know, this is good. This... being in this one place over and over again, I understand it better.

[36:03]

I understand it from the heart place. So he goes on some more. The intellectuals understand wabi and sabi to mean the simplest, most humble form and style of beauty. In this strict sense, wabi and sabi mean reality which does not belong to any category of subjectivity or objectivity, simple or fancy. However, it is this reality, this reality that is beyond subjectivity or objectivity, beyond simple or fancy, this reality which makes subjectivity and objectivity possible and perfect and which makes everything simple or fancy come to home to our heart. This reality that is beyond subjectivity and objectivity makes the world we live in come home to our heart.

[37:14]

So it's almost like this is, you know, touching non-duality beyond simple and fancy. Maybe we'd say the world of the absolute or emptiness. And he's saying this. brings us to our heart. And that is our real life, the life of our heart. And he finishes up, in the realm of Wabi Sabi, even in one drop of dew, you will see the whole universe, even in one drop of dew. We don't need to go anywhere, so... Even while we've been sheltering in palais, we can just look out our window and see the whole universe. And we're getting close here. So it goes on. Contrary to wabi-sabi, usually when some object is put into the range of our perception, our first reaction is not acceptance, but rather rationality, repulsion, or emotional disturbance.

[38:29]

The way of Western civilization is not directed to acceptance so much as to how to organize many objects and ideas in the realm of perception or thinking and how to control the sense data of the central world. So Suzuki Rishi had actually studied Western civilization a lot in college when he was in Japan and had a great interest. So he was aware of this sort of mind-body separation in Western thinking. and how so much of our culture is around controlling the outside world to make it better. And he's bringing forward here in the next paragraph, in the world of Wabi Sabi, there is no attainment, no anger, no joy, sorrow, or any waves of the mind of this kind. Each existence in this world is the fruit of subjective self-training and objective, pure, and direct understanding. The savor of fruits come home to our heart and confirmation of reality takes place.

[39:34]

He's not saying that all of Eastern culture is a culture of acceptance and non-duality, but he's bringing forward, and certainly in the sense of the Zen religion, this idea that if you can touch the oneness at the base of your life, Then the fruit of your practice will come home to our heart and confirmation of reality takes place. The fruit of practice comes home to our heart and comfort. Such a beautiful idea that when you can be present in the moment, the moment itself, the reality of the moment itself confirms you. Isn't that kind of what we wish? Oh, I wish my father confirmed the reality of my life. I wish my teachers confirmed the reality. I need someone that could, maybe a great Zen master will confirm the reality of my life.

[40:41]

But Sikuroshi is saying, your practice and this moment will confirm you. Reality itself is what concerns you. This is essentially the, I think, the essence of the Genjo Koan. Every moment can verify your life. He finishes. We observe falling flowers at their best. By repeating this kind of direct experience, one may have calm and deep understanding of life and deliverance from it. We observe falling flowers at their best. By repeating this kind of direct experience, one may have calm and deep understanding of life and deliverance from it, like a traveling monk who has full appreciation of everything and is nonetheless completely detached from it.

[41:50]

We observe falling flowers at their best. The poignancy of falling flowers, the loss of many things. This, too, is young men's good day. And I love Sukhari saying, by repeating this, we may have a calm and deep understanding of our life. And, you know, he used the word detachment here, but just to... Remind us, detachment does not mean we're standing outside of life. We're fully appreciative of life and living completely in it, but we're not caught by it. This is how I felt Sigurishi's life was, fully engaged, fully connected, but able to move to the next event, free from attachment to what had just happened in the past. When I read Suzuki Roshi in these ways, I feel that he's not just, you know, teaching some Zen thing.

[42:59]

He's speaking of his own experience of life. This is his experience of every day is a good day. So actually, after that introduction, he repeats the case again, and then he does make this one sentence commentary. And since it's getting close to 11, maybe it's, I won't say too much about it, but this is his Now, actual comment on the case. Today does not become yesterday. And Dogen Zenji states that today does not become tomorrow. Each day is its own past and future and has its own absolute value. Each day is its own past and future and has its own absolute value. Every day is a good day. Well, so I've come to the end of my formal talk.

[44:02]

It's 11 o'clock. I would like to say something about the ceremony happening today at Green Gulch. At 3 p.m., there will be a lay Bodhisattva initiation ceremony, Zike Tokudu, staying home and accomplishing the way. Senior Dharma teacher agent Linda Ruth Cutts will be giving the precepts to Ann Royce and Jenny Hernandez. All the moments in the ceremony are meaningful and beautiful. I will share one with you. As preparation for the ceremony, the ordinaries study the precepts and sew a raksu, which is a version of Buddha's robe. As they're sewing it with each stitch, they say, which means I take refuge in Buddha. They stitch their vows into the garment. And then they give the raksu to Linda, and she inscribes a new Buddhist name on the back of it. And in the ceremony, the raksa is given to the ordini with the following statement.

[45:03]

The meaning of the bodhisattva precepts is in the living of them. To sustain and confirm the practice of these precepts, I will now give you Buddha's name and robe to clothe you throughout this life in times to come. This will be your dharma name, family, and dress. The meaning of bodhisattva precepts is in the living of them. And it will be sustained by this robe. And then the pre-ordinees then chant, O bodhisattvas, mahasattvas, please concentrate your hearts on me. I, and then they repeat their new name, which they just received. Buddha's disciple received this robe of five panels, each panel made from one long and one short piece. I will wear this robe of Buddha with the mind and body of its sacred meaning. It's so beautiful. They say, please, oh, Bodhisattvas, all of you, concentrate your hearts on me.

[46:11]

Extend your love for me as I go through this ceremony. Well, since it's always wonderful at that time in the ceremony when all the people in the room are having that feeling about the participants. But since most of us cannot attend this ceremony because either of COVID-19 restrictions or other reasons, let's concentrate our hearts on Anne and Jenny as they prepare to pass through this wondrous gate of the Bodhisattva path. Thank you for listening to this podcast offered by the San Francisco Zen Center. Our programs are made possible by the donations we receive. Please help us to continue to realize and actualize the practice of giving by offering your financial support. For more information, visit sfzc.org and click giving. May we fully enjoy the Dharma.

[47:15]

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